In International Publication WO83/03188; Sinofsky et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,492; and the like, balloon catheters are disclosed which carry an optical fiber for permitting irradiation in the region of the balloon. Such balloon catheter devices have been used for the placement of a Glastra stent, which stent may be expanded by a balloon catheter in the blood vessel of a patient or other desired location, and then cured with ultraviolet light so that the stent cures to rigidity.
Optical fibers of the prior art may be quartz fibers, but deliver the ultraviolet light within the catheter from the distal end of the fiber in the form of a light cone. By this invention, an optical fiber is provided for a catheter in which the light is delivered radially over a desired length of the fiber. Thus, a system may be provided in which an optical fiber is secured inside of a catheter balloon providing radial light delivery without the risk of balloon puncture with the sharp fiber end.